What We're
Reading
Dai Sijie,
Balzac and the Little Chinese
Seamstress
 Reviewed
by
Hong Yu, Cataloger
A. Frank Smith, Jr. Library Center
Like a brief breeze on a hot summer
evening, with a lingering delicate
fragrance of jasmine, the reading
of Balzac
and the Little Chinese Seamstress is
refreshing and mesmerizing.
The story is set in the exotic mountains of China in the
1970s during the Cultural Revolution. Two young men, both
17 years old, the narrator and his friend Luo are sent to
a remote mountain village to be “re-educated.”
The re-education involves demeaning hard labor and a primitive
lifestyle. Their lives become totally changed after they stumble
on a secret suitcase of translated French literature books.
 They
share their newly found treasures with
a local beauty, “the Little Seamstress.” The
story centers on the relationships
among the narrator, his friend Luo
and the Little Seamstress. The end
comes with a surprise, and a little
too abruptly.
What fascinates me is how the author
transcends the dark grim reality of
that crazy time and creates a beautiful,
romantic tale with hilarious humor,
tenderness of the heart, a filmmaker’s
eye and poetic language. This is a
celebration of the resilient human
spirit, the awakening of the suppressed
human desires and the power of books
in the time and place of darkness and
ignorance.
What We're Reading
features reviews by members of the Southwestern University
community. Some reviews were previously published in the Library's
annual Summer Reading List.
Read
more reviews.
What
We're Reading is a regular
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Frank Smith, Jr. Library Center. |
